Could you do one about the reader who a Alexandrian (but still knows how to survive) and lives with her abusive mother (unknown to the other residence). When the group arrives Maggie and Glenn take a mutual interest in the reader because of her shy but kind nature, eventually when it’s found out that the reader is getting beat she is taking in by Maggie and Glenn. I know it’s like the Pete and Enid story’s but I like them and like to see this played out.
Aaron arrived at the community with a new group of people. Their clothes were ripped, and their skin was covered in dirt, you knew they had spent too much time out there. They were also so different from each other, they didn’t look like they were family, which meant they had lost theirs. Seeing them reminded you of the day you arrived at Alexandria. Aaron had found you, but not soon enough; your father had been killed by those flesh-eating things while he was trying to protect you, and you were left with your mom, which wasn’t good.
You loved your mom and all, but she hurt you, really bad. She had fallen into a state of anger and sadness when your dad died, and she took it out on you. She was old and didn’t look too strong, but she could really hurt you when she threw things at you or beat you with anything she could reach for.
You shook your head and let go of a deep breath, pulling down the sleeves of your sweater, concealing your arms that had been beaten the night before.
Aaron let the new people enter one by one, and you showed them to Deanna’s office. You worked with Deanna everyday, helping her run that place, she said that once she’s gone you’re the one who has to take over, because her sons aren’t fit for the job.
She interviewed the first one to enter, and you could hear what they said. The other residents looked scared of them, you saw them staring at them from their houses, peeking through the windows. But the didn’t sound like bad people to you, more like damaged. They spent too much time out there and surely lost a lot of people, after all.
Deanna finished with the first one and asked you to let someone else in. You looked at the man who came out of her office; he was tall and very handsome, but he was all dirty and had a menacing look on his face. You let a woman in, she looked much nicer than him, even if she carried a sword on her back.
They went in, one by one, and you just stood at the door outside. You took a quick look at them —because you didn’t want to piss them off— and saw that two of them were holding hands. A guy and a girl, they looked young and they certainly looked in love. She caught you looking at them, and she smiled. It was a warm smile, and it looked genuine. The door opened and Deanna asked you to let someone else in, so you called the guy.
You heard the interview, he wanted to stay and he wanted it to work.
After Deanna was done with them, she called you into her office.
“So, how did it go?” you asked her, and she grinned at you.
“Yeah, right. As if I didn’t know you heard the whole thing,” she chuckled. “They’re going to stay, and I’m going to give them jobs. Help me figure this out.”
She was about to show you the videos she filmed, but it wasn’t necessary because you had, in fact, heard the whole thing, so you didn’t want to waste time watching them.
“The first man, Rick Grimes, he used to be a deputy sheriff,” she said.
“Oh, right. He looks like one,” you nodded, remembering that man.
“I know, right? What is it, the boots?”
“I think it’s the way he stands,” you said.
“Yeah, probably. So, what is he gonna be now?”
“Maybe the same,” you said, and she gave you a funny look. “I mean, if we’re trying to build a civilization here, in which there are bound to be problems, then we should have someone to deal with them.”
“You’re right,” she nodded, and took out a notebook in which she wrote: RICK GRIMES - SHERIFF. “Sheriff it is. Now, the second person you let in. The woman with the sword?”
You were thinking, but you haven’t heard her interview that well, because you were looking at the couple.
“I think she’d work well with Rick,” Deanna said, and wrote something on her little notebook.
“Okay. The guy that went in next?” you meant the one who had been holding hands with the girl. “He looks strong, doesn’t he? Maybe he could work with Aiden.”
“Sounds about right. Although, I don’t know how that’s gonna go. Aiden can be a bit of a jerk with the new people, you know?”
You chuckled at how she spoke about her son, but she was right.
“And his girlfriend?” you asked, again talking about the couple.
“Oh,” she grinned. “You noticed that. I wasn’t sure they were together.”
“I think she should work here,” you told her, and she gave you a funny look again.
“Because she’s smart, and she looks nice,” you said, and she chuckled.
“My dear, I think she’d need a little more than that to work here,” she said.
“I work here, and I’m not that special,” you laughed.
“Yes, but you—” she stopped abruptly, and made a pause. “All right, I think she could work here.”
The next morning, you ran to Deanna’s house before your mom woke up. She was specially cranky when she woke up in the mornings, and you didn’t want to be there when that happened.
When you arrived at her house, you noticed that the new girl was already there, in Deanna’s office.
“Good, you’re here,” Deanna told you and gestured for you to come in. “Let’s talk about the expansion.”
You went inside and sat on the couch, next to Deanna.
“I think before we think about that, we should do something about the walls. They don’t look strong enough to take a large herd of walkers,” she said. Deanna looked at her for a moment, thinking about what she said.
“She’s right,” you murmured at Deanna, who nodded as she looked at the girl.
“Yes, she’s right. Nice observation, Maggie. It’s been a long time since I saw those walls from outside, so I’ll have to trust you in this one.”
Maggie smiled, clearly feeling proud about contributing on her first day of work.
“Great” If you’ll excuse me, I have to talk about it to Reg, I’ll be back in a minute,” Deanna stood up with her notebook, in which she had been writing something, and left the room.
“Reg?” Maggie asked once you were alone.
“Her husband, he’s an architect,” you answered as you tapped your fingers nervously on your knee. You were a little shy, and being a lone with a stranger made you a little nervous.
“So, how are you getting on?” you asked, but regretted it immediately. Your voice shook slightly, but you really wanted to know if everything was okay. You knew that it was hard arriving at a new community, with new people who gave you strange looks just because you had mud in your face and blood in your clothes.
“Good, everything’s going well,” she said. You nodded and lowered your head, nodding along as you stared at the ground.
Maggie smiled, even if you couldn’t see her. She was happy that you asked, she was really starting to like you. You were nicer than the other residents that stared at them judgmentally and tried to stay away from them.
Deanna came back with her husband and you all discussed the plans for reinforcing the walls, and then the expansion.
At dinner time, Maggie went home. You stayed for dinner at Deanna’s because she didn’t want you to go back home to your mom. She was the only one who knew about the violence you had to endure in your house.
It was late and you had to go home. When you arrived at your house, all the lights were off, which probably meant that your mom didn’t get out of bed in the whole day.
You started walking upstairs, but you stopped when you heard her voice.
“Where were you?” she asked, her voice was wobbly, she had been crying and drinking something she probably stole from the pantry.
“At Deanna’s, you know I work with her,” you answered nervously.
“But it’s late. You don’t even care if I eat or not?” she was aggressive that night. She didn’t hit you everyday, but you had to live everyday with the fear that she would, you never knew when it was coming, but that night it felt a lot like she would.
“Just shut up already,” she said and threw the bottle she had been drinking from. It hit your face, the cold and hard glass smacked your cheekbone harshly, and then it shattered on the ground. It hurt, and you wanted to cry, but you knew that would only make her angrier.
You ran upstairs and locked yourself in your room. You broke down, crying, and you covered your face with your hands, but it hurt when you touched your cheek, so you just sobbed in silence.
You wondered if it would ever end, if she would ever stop hurting you. You didn’t know the answer, and thinking about it only made you feel worse, so you laid in bed and hoped for the morning to come faster.
Before leaving for work the next morning, you took a look in the mirror. Your cheek was swollen and violet, you wished you had some makeup to cover it up, but all you could do was put some ice on it and hope that no one would ask questions.
“Ah, you’re leaving again,” your mom said from the couch. She had a new bottle in her hand. You flinched when you looked at it, it was much bigger than the last one, so you hope she wouldn’t throw this one at your face.
You didn’t answer, you just stood by the door.
“Come here,” she said. You swallowed hard and slowly made your way towards her. You knelt next to her and she cupped your face with her hands. “Don’t you care about your mother? You just go for hours, and you don’t give a shit about me.”
You felt guilty, you knew that’s just what she wanted, but you couldn’t help it.
“I am your mother, not that Deanna bitch,” she spat out.
“I’m late for work,” you whispered.
“Yeah,” she nodded. “Just go, I don’t even want you here, anyway.”
That hurt, even worse than your cheek, but you didn’t want to arrive at Deanna’s house with misty eyes, so you tried to forget about it.
You cleared your throat as you went inside.
“Hey, I’m sorry I’m late,” you said. Deanna and Maggie looked at you, and noticed your swollen cheek. Maggie was surprised, but Deanna wasn’t.
“It’s okay, kid, just come here,” she turned back to the plans they had been working on before you arrived.
You sat next to her, as always, and Maggie kept looking at you.
“What happened?” she asked you. You turned to look at Deanna, who was uncomfortable by the question, she didn’t want everyone to know about your mom, specially since she had tried to help you but it had been your decision to stay with her.
“Last night, at dinner, I had a glass of wine. When I got home I was a little dizzy, and I hit my face with the door,” you chuckled nervously, trying to laugh at how clumsy you had been in your little story.
“You gotta be more careful, dear,” Deanna said, supporting your lie, and patted your knee softly.
Maggie nodded, she believed you, she had no reason not to, but she still didn’t think a door could hit that hard to leave that kind of bruise.
You went on with the plans for the walls, but you couldn’t take what your mom said off of your mind. It distracted you from your job, no matter how hard you tried to concentrate.
“Then maybe we would need the inventory book, I can’t remember how many we have left,” Deanna said, but you hadn’t been listening to what they were talking about. “Could you bring it, (Y/N)?”
“Huh?” you raised your eyebrows.
“The inventory book, it’s in the living room’s bookshelf,” she said, and you nodded.
“Yeah, I’ll bring it,” you got off the couch and headed towards the living room.
You were alone at last, and you felt like you could release some of the tension you had been holding since you arrived. You didn’t like lying, specially to someone as nice and kind as Maggie had been with you, but you couldn’t tell her about what your mom did to you.
The inventory book was on the highest shelf, so you had to get on your toes to reach it. As you reached out for it, your shirt lifted and exposed your back.
“Oh, my God,” you heard and immediately turned around. The inventory book fell to the ground, your hands were busy pulling your shirt down.
You found Maggie with her hands over her mouth. She had seen all the past bruises and scars in your back.
“What happened, (Y/N)?” she asked, concerned.
You opened your mouth, but no answer came out.
Maggie walked towards you and carefully wrapped her arms around you. She hugged you softly, but it was warm and nice. It reminded you of the days when your mom used to hug you instead of throwing things at you or beating you.
She left the room, but you stayed inside. You didn’t want to go back to work, specially now that Maggie already knew that there was something wrong. You suddenly missed that moment in which she had actually believed your lie.
Maggie went back to Deanna’s office, and she was angry.
“Have you seen the bruises on (Y/N)?” she asked suddenly, which took Deanna by surprise.
“How can you let that happen?” Maggie yelled at her. You could hear everything from the living room.
“I tried to put (Y/N) in another house, but she wanted to stay with her mother. What am I supposed to do? Exile her? She’s an old woman, she’s not strong enough to take care of herself!”
“Well, she’s certainly strong enough to hurt her like that, isn’t she?”
“I gave her this job so she could stay away from her as long as possible, but there’s nothing else I could do,” Deanna told her with a defeated voice. She was also worried about you, and she hated when you arrived at her house with new injuries, but she knew you didn’t like talking about that.
“I can, and I will,” Maggie said.
“What are you gonna do?” Deanna scowled.
“She can live with me and my husband.”
Deanna shook her head. “I don’t think her mother would like that.”
“I don’t care what her mother likes, for all I know, all she likes is beating the hell out of her daughter!” Maggie was angry, really angry, and you didn’t even know why, she barely knew you.
You had been listening the whole time, Deanna knew you usually did that, so she knew you were out there.
“Come in, (Y/N)” she said, and you slowly opened the door.
“Did you hear everything?” Maggie asked you. You nodded. “What do you think?”
You didn’t know what to think about it. When Maggie was talking about it, you were happy for a moment, but it all faded away when you thought about your mom. She was old and weak, and you didn’t want to leave her alone, but you didn’t know how much more you could take.
“You don’t have to decide right now. You could come to have dinner with us, and then you can make a decision. Okay?”
“Okay,” you said. Maggie smiled.
You turned to look at Deanna, and she had a look of relief in her face. She didn’t know how it would turn out, but for a moment, she was happy that Maggie wanted to help you.
After work, you went to Maggie’s place. She had gotten a new house with her husband, you remembered she had talked about it with Deanna the day before.
When you went in, Maggie’s husband was already setting up the table.
“Hey, baby,” he said when he heard the door opening.
“Hey,” Maggie closed the door after you walked in. “We have company tonight.”
He lifted his gaze and looked at you. He smiled and nodded.
“I’ll put another set, then,” he grabbed another napkin and set of cutlery.
“What did you make tonight?” Maggie asked as she sat on one of the chairs, and pulled another one for you.
“Nothing. Carol brought some stew,” he placed a plate in front of you and then another one at Maggie’s spot.
“Oh, looks great,” she said.
He sat on the chair once everyone had a plate with stew in it.
“So, (Y/N), right?” he asked you gently.
You nodded and took a spoonful of stew into your mouth.
“Maggie told me about you yesterday, how’s everything going at work?”
“We’re making plans for the reinforcement of the walls, and then we’re going to talk about the expansion,” you told him, and he seemed impressed.
“Wow, then it’s serious,” he looked at Maggie. She nodded and smiled. You wondered what they were thinking about, but you figured that he meant that she was serious about staying.
“And how was your day, Glenn?” Maggie asked him.
“Aiden’s a jerk,” he said. “But I think I can handle him.”
Maggie chuckled, and you did too, you knew Aiden was indeed a jerk.
The night went on peacefully and quite nicely, you really liked being with them. They were good people, and you could see yourself living with them.
When you were done with dinner, you asked if you could go home already, because your mom would be worried. Maggie pressed her lips tightly, feeling somewhat sorry for the place you had to go back to.
“All right, I’ll walk you home,” she stood up, and you did too. You were walking towards the door, when Maggie said something else. “(Y/N), could you give us a minute, please?”
“Sure, I’ll wait outside.”
“I asked her to move in with us,” Maggie told Glenn, you could barely hear.
“Glenn, you should see her back. It’s covered in bruises,” she told him. “And did you see her cheek?”
“Her parents?” Glenn asked, concerned.
There was a silent moment.
“What did she say?” he asked.
“I told her to come to dinner and then she could decide, but I’m telling you now, just in case she says yes,” Maggie told him. “Are you okay with it?”
“Mhm?” you could hear that he had been thinking and Maggie’s question pulled him out of his thoughts. “Yeah, of course. She’s a really nice girl.”
“Okay,” Maggie said happily, and you could hear a kiss.
“Wait, Maggie,” Glenn said. “Why are you doing this?”
“I mean, taking her in would make her, kind of, our responsibility,” he told her. “Why are you acting like a mom?”
“Well…” she sighed. “Lately, I’ve been having this maternal instinct, you know?”
“I’m pregnant,” she confessed. For a moment, Glenn was silent.
“Oh, my God! Are you serious?” he said finally, and you could hear him laughing.
They celebrated for a moment, and then Maggie went outside.
“Hey, sorry for keeping you waiting,” she said.
She started walking down the porch steps, but you called her name before she could keep walking. She turned around and saw you standing there, fiddling with your fingers.
“I want to stay with you,” you said.
Maggie smiled widely and walked back to you. She hugged you tightly, but you jolted because the bruises still hurt.
“It’s okay,” you shook your head slightly.
She grabbed the doorknob and opened the door again.